Australian authorities urge residents of Queensland town to flee floods

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Record flooding swamp Australian town

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The Balonne River in the town of St. George reaches record level and is expected to rise further

The authorities urge hundreds of residents still in the town to leave their homes

Thirty houses have already been submerged in St. George

The authorities have been airlifting thousands of residents to safety across Queensland

Australian authorities on Monday pleaded with hundreds of people who had chosen to remain in a town in the path of rising flood waters to vacate their homes.

The level of the Balonne River in the town of St. George, in the eastern state of Queensland, swelled to 13.63 meters at lunchtime on Monday, breaking its previous record, and was expected to crest overnight above 14 meters.

"We can't and won't physically drag people out of their homes," Bob Atkinson, the Queensland police commissioner, said. "But we repeat the request for people to leave their homes."

Queensland has been deluged with heavy rains over the past week even as some parts of the region are still struggling to recover from devastating floods that took place about a year ago.

Thirty houses in St. George have already been inundated, according to Neil Roberts, the Queensland police and emergency services minister. "We do expect this to rise as the waters head towards their peak," he said.

The majority of St. George's roughly 3,000 residents have left the danger area, by both bus and aircraft, Roberts said.

The authorities had already been using military helicopters and a C-130 cargo plane to airlift thousands of stranded Queensland residents to safety. Hundreds of people were taking shelter in evacuation centers Monday.